5 Things We Learned From The New Mass Effect: Andromeda Gameplay

The latest Mass Effect: Andromeda gameplay trailer only clocks in at about two minutes but, in that time, we get a good look at several of the games new systems and combat. BioWare is already promising more details and footage in the not-too-distant future but, for now, we decided to pick apart what's on offer and take a better look at what Andromeda will bring to the table when it launches on March 21.

No Class

We already knew that Profiles would replace the Class system seen in previous Mass Effect games, but this most recent trailer gave us a better understanding of how the two will differ. In previous Mass Effect games, your player class would determine your stats and what specialized abilities were available to you. In Andromeda, this system is being replaced with Profiles in order to give the player the ability to specialize or shake things up from time to time. In the new trailer, we see the following Profiles are available: Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Sentinel, Vanguard, Infiltrator, and Explorer. While you might have a special ability attached to a Profile, such as the Engineer's combat drone, usually you're only talking about shifts to stats. The Engineer's boosts are almost exclusively on the tech side, for instance, while the Soldier Profile gives you improved weapon damage and accuracy, as well as enhanced abilities when you gun down multiple enemies at once. You can only change your Profile at certain times, though, so there's still some picking and choosing to do. What we like about this shift is that it allows the player to evolve or alter their character a bit without needing to start from scratch.